The bodies of three Indonesian soldiers, who died while serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), arrived at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Banten on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. The deceased peacekeepers were identified as Captain Zulmi Aditya Iskandar, First Sergeant Muhammad Nur Ikhwan, and Private First Class Farizal Rhomadhon.
A military honor ceremony was prepared at the VVIP building of Terminal 3, with President Prabowo Subianto expected to lead the proceedings. Following the ceremony, two Indonesian Air Force aircraft, a CN-295 and a C-130J, were scheduled to transport the remains to their hometowns in Bandung and Yogyakarta for burial.
Private First Class Rhomadhon was reportedly killed on March 29 by artillery fire near the Indonesian UNIFIL contingent’s position in Adchit Al Qusayr, southern Lebanon. The following day, Captain Zulmi and First Sergeant Ikhwan died during an escort convoy operation. Five other Indonesian soldiers were injured in these incidents: First Lieutenant Sulthan Wirdean Maulana, Private Deni Rianto, Private Rico Pramudia, Private Bayu Prakoso, and Private Arif Kurniawan.
Indonesia’s Foreign Ministry expressed grave concern over these events and a subsequent incident on April 3, in which three additional Indonesian UNIFIL personnel were injured by an explosion in El Addaiseh, southern Lebanon. The ministry called on the United Nations Security Council to address the situation immediately and urged UNIFIL troop- and police-contributing countries to convene a meeting to strengthen force protection measures.
Earlier, on April 2, UNIFIL held a tribute ceremony for the three soldiers at a Lebanese Air Force hangar in Beirut. The event was led by UNIFIL Force Commander and Head of Mission Major General Diodato Abagnara. Indonesian diplomats, including the ambassador to Lebanon, representatives from United Nations Headquarters in New York, Lebanese military officials, and members of the international peacekeeping contingent, attended the solemn occasion. The repatriation was conducted with full military honors, underscoring Indonesia’s continued commitment to UN peacekeeping missions globally.
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